Saturday, December 09, 2006

They want to believe

Via Bryan, a review of the book War of the Words, about the UFO sightings in Gulf Breeze.

"At last, there is a no-holds-barred look at the hysteria surrounding Gulf Breeze's UFO sightings. Just in time for the 20 year-anniversary of the hoopla, Craig Myers' new book "War of the Words" gives a tongue-in-cheek, satirical look at the absurdity and humor behind the photos that sparked a cult following among UFO believers and locals alike.

The flap began in 1987 when local prankster Ed Walters (or Ed Hanson, depending on when you knew him) reported a strange encounter with gray spacemen in a UFO hovering above his house. No one else saw the aircraft, but Walters had photos to prove it. Albeit, they were Polaroid photos taken by a camera that was 17-years-old back then. But that was all the evidence he needed to get his story splashed across front pages."
[snip]
"Carol Salisberry, a former MUFON investigator, says she knows Walters' photos were faked with or without Myers' book. Salisberry, along with her husband, Rex, were asked to investigate Walters' case. But they got the boot when they denied the validity of the photos.

"It's always important that both sides of the story are shown, but the big thing is, what did people learn from it?" she says. "Sometimes, true believers don't really want to look at the facts.""

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, I have as well as many other people.

http://ufopensacola.blogspot.com

ellroon said...

I have seen some weird things in my life, but the more I researched them, the less mysterious they were. Science is able to answer most of the inexplicable things of our world yet still give us space for true awe and delight.